Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

November Recap

It’s the last month of 2020! Can you believe it? I’m so happy that this year is almost behind us. I just pray that 2021 is a much smoother ride. A new president and a COVID vaccine should hopefully help us get back to normal. I hope so, at least!

November was a lovely month for me, so let’s recap:

READING

I finished 12 books in November, bringing me to 141 books for 2020! I’m pretty certain I will be able to hit 150 this year, especially since I have the last week of the year off work. 🙂 Here are my favorites from last month:

WATCHING

  • The Amazing Race – We’re nearing the end of this season of The Amazing Race! I’ve enjoyed this season, although a lot of my favorites are already out of the competition and I don’t really like the three teams leading the race. Ah, well. We’ll see what happens!
  • Golden Girls, season 6 – I’m back on the Golden Girls train! I had to take a break after my anxiety was triggered during an episode. This show isn’t always as lighthearted as you might expect! But I turned it back on and found myself falling back in love with my favorite foursome. I can’t believe I’ve nearly finished the series!

LISTENING TO

  • (mis)Representative Democracy on Throughline – These episodes were published in October, but I didn’t listen to them until November, and they were so very good. This is a three-episode miniseries about voting in America. Episode 1 (The Electoral College) discussed how the Electoral College was made. Episode 2 (How We Vote) explored all the ways that voting has changed throughout the centuries. Episode 3 (The Most Sacred Right) examined Frederick Douglass’s lifetime of fighting for the right to vote.
  • Liar Liar (Donald Trump Golf Stories) on Hall of Shame – I looooved the pettiness of this episode, hehehe. In this episode, the hosts explore all of the ways Trump has lied about his golf game, including some insanely childish tantrums he has pulled. If you want an episode where you can laugh at how ridiculous our (SOON-TO-BE FORMER) president is, this episode is for you.
  • How Chelsee learned to love budgeting on Real Talk Radio – After a long hiatus, Real Talk Radio is back with a new series called “But How Though?” which digs into the nitty-gritty of how people met their goals. This episode was especially helpful to me, as it got me thinking pretty deeply about my own finances and how I want to move forward with my money goals and budgeting as a whole. (I also really loved their discussion about how much they spend on food, as it made me feel less insecure about how much *I* spend on food myself, haha.)

BUYING

  • A new Christmas tree ($200) – I’m super happy with my (fake) Christmas tree! It’s so much bigger and fuller than the tree I used to have, and I really love it. Plus, it’s pre-lit so I didn’t have to struggle through the process of hanging tree lights. Turning on the lights every night fills me with such joy!
  • Chatbooks ($46) – I ordered two more Chatbooks of the girls this month! I love having their Instagram photos in a pretty, bound book. It’s a little more difficult to put these Chatbooks together now since the girls have their own Instagram (@eloiseandlila) which is linked under my Instagram (@stephanywrites). For some reason, Chatbooks doesn’t have the functionality to pull photos from a linked Instagram account. (Or if it does, I couldn’t figure it out!) The whole genius behind Chatbooks is the ability for them to just plop your Instagram photos into a photo book, but now I have to do it manually. Anyway, I got a bit behind on ordering photobooks because I had to figure out how to do the manual process and then go back through months of cat photos to organize the photobooks. I ordered two books this month and was so excited to get them in the mail!
  • Christmas face masks ($25) – I found two adorable cat-themed Christmas face masks on Etsy that I’m excited to wear this month while out and about. Who knew Christmas face masks would be a thing to be excited about this holiday season? 1 and 2 (I got style B)

HIGHLIGHTS

> Being a poll worker for the 2020 general election. I’ve already talked about my experience being a poll worker, which you can read about here. I’m so glad I pushed myself to do this and that I had such a fun experience. I’m not sure if it’s something I would do again (just because it’s SUCH a long day!) but it’s one thing I can check off my list.

> A post-election lady date. I took the day after the election off work, knowing I would need a day to sleep in and recover. Thankfully, my friend who also worked her first election did the same and we met up on Wednesday afternoon to chat about our experiences. We sipped delicious frose and snacked on bar food. We both had supremely positive experiences, so it was a lot of fun to talk about being poll workers! Plus, it was a gorgeous day outside!

> Biden winning the election! THE BEST PART OF NOVEMBER! I think I’ll always remember where I was when the race was called for Biden, just like I’ll always remember where I was when Trump was announced as president-elect in 2016. (Two very different emotions there.)

> Hurricane Eta. It’s unusual for Florida to be dealing with hurricanes this late in hurricane season (which ends on November 30th), but we had a bit of a scare as Tropical Storm Eta became Hurricane Eta, gathering strength in the Gulf. Thankfully, the storm weakened and shifted north, so I didn’t have to evacuate or anything. Instead, I got a nice cozy day of rainy weather! I am very grateful for that.

> Friday night dinners. Last month, my uncle was staying with my mom for a few weeks and we got into this fun routine of going out to dinner on Friday nights. It was a nice little kickoff to the weekend and I enjoyed spending time with them! Eating at restaurants these days is definitely a weird experience, but it’s something I feel comfortable doing right now. That may change, of course, but it was a nice way to catch up.

> A lady date and birthday surprise. This lady date was one of my bookish moments of November, so I won’t go into the details of the shopping date and birthday surprise again. But this lady date was such a great one because after spending time in the bookstore, a few of us headed over to my favorite pizza place, Cappy’s, for dinner. We sat outside, ran into an old book club friend, and just enjoyed catching up with each other. It was one of the bright spots of my month, that’s for sure!

> Thanksgiving 2020. I had such a lovely Thanksgiving with my family. I felt grateful that some of us could gather together, even though there were definitely people missing from our dinner table. It was a festive day, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed my big plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and mac and cheese. Mmm! And was happy to take home half a loaf of pumpkin bread to enjoy for breakfast over the next few days. Mostly, though, I fell in love with my cousin’s incredibly fat cat, Muffins, who is 18 lbs of pure sass and adorableness. She strutted her way into the room like she owned the place, and if I could have taken her home with me, I would have. 🙂

> Celebrating 33. I turned 33 at the end of November and had a lovely day celebrating. I started my day with a massage and then a pedicure with my mom. After that, my mom and I visited a local Christmas store to buy some goodies and I helped her and my stepdad pick out a Christmas tree. (My mom wanted a real tree for her first Christmas in her new home.) I met up with my mom, stepdad, and brother for dinner where I capped off my night with a warm cookie. It was such a wonderful way to welcome in a brand-new age!

Categories: Life

We Did It

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What a year last week was, huh?

I can’t believe I get to type the words that Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States. How amazing is that?! Kamala Harris will be the first woman, the first Black person, and the first South Asian-American to be vice president.

I want to pinch myself. I am so grateful and relieved. I feel like a weight has been lifted. We don’t have to endure another four years of Trump. THANK THE GOOD SWEET LORD.

We can make progress on climate change policies and health care policies and criminal justice reform. We can finally have a stable presence in the White House and hopefully get back in the good graces of our allies. We can actually have a plan of action for Covid and get this pandemic under control.

I know things won’t be easy. There is still a Republican majority in the Senate (at least for now—praying the runoffs in Georgia go in the Dems favor!) and an extremely conservative Supreme Court. Democrats lost four seats in the House. And, as a nation, we need to deal with the fact that 70 million people voted for Trump—and more white women voted for him this year than in 2016. There is a problem in our country that this many people were willing to overlook his white supremacist leanings, his lies, his incompetency, and all of the awful policies enacted by his administration (politicizing the pandemic, caging children at the border, trying to get rid of health care for millions of Americans, etc.).

It makes no sense to me, especially knowing so many Republicans who happily voted for Biden because Trump is not who they want as the leader of their party. He does not hold the values they believe in. And it’s because of Trump and the way Republican politicians rallied around them that these same Republicans I know are not even sure if this is the party they want to support any more. The GOP has become something unrecognizable, all because of Trump.

But let’s not forget that Trump is not the problem. He is a symptom of a larger systemic problem in our politics and society as a whole. We have a race problem in America, where Black people worry every single day for their lives. We have a science problem in America, where conservatives don’t believe climate change is real (despite all the evidence to the contrary) and don’t trust the scientists when it comes to our pandemic response. We have an equality problem in America, where the system isn’t designed to help our poor brothers and sisters but rather the rich ones.

I don’t know how to address those problems. But we must if we are to have a United States that works for everyone, not just the white men and not just the rich.

But enough of that. I don’t want to worry about that right now. Right now, I want to celebrate. Because this is a major win for our country. We chose hope over hate, experience over incompetence. I feel such a lightness in my soul right now. I’ve been crying happy tears all weekend as I see memes about Kamala Harris being our first woman VP. I cried during their speeches on Saturday night because, man alive, it is refreshing to hear leaders of our country speak about unity and love and hope and change.

I’m so excited about the next four years.  I am thrilled that Biden finally reached the presidency, after spending so many years fighting to get here, and even more excited for what Harris will bring to our country as Madam Vice President. I am relieved for immigrants and people of color and the LGBT+ community. I can’t wait to see how this new (!) administration will handle the pandemic and put forth policies to help us get it under control.

What a ride. Let’s take some time to celebrate this win… and then it’s time to get back to work.

Categories: Life

My Experience As a Poll Worker During the 2020 General Election

Being a poll worker for the November 3rd election was an incredible experience! It’s one I would do again in a heartbeat. I worked with a great group of people and we processed around 650 voters, which is less than I would have expected for a presidential election, but that’s probably due to lots of people voting early and mailing in their ballots.

My day started super early with my alarm going off at 4 a.m.! Whew. I didn’t need to get up that early, but I didn’t want to be rushing around before I had to leave. So I gave myself plenty of time to get ready, eat a bowl of cereal, and make some coffee before heading out the door at 5 a.m. My polling location was an easy 10-minute drive and I arrived to see a handful of poll workers already there and settling in. At 5:30 a.m., we all took an oath and then set up our stations. I worked as an Inspector during this election (the person who verifies voter eligibility and gives voters tickets that are exchanged for a ballot). Thankfully, I wouldn’t be working alone! There was another Inspector, H., that I would work alongside. I loved H.! She was my age and hilarious and we both had the same type of sarcastic wit, which made working together so much fun. She had also worked the previous election so she knew what she was doing more than I did. 🙂

We worked quickly to set up our station and then got to relax for a bit before the polls officially opened. One of the poll workers brought in donuts, so I wasted no time stealing into the kitchen to enjoy a donut and coffee! (I was really worried about having a hypoglycemia episode as a poll worker, but thankfully, the bowl of cereal, donut, and copious amounts of coffee kept my blood sugars normal. I also took one of the earlier lunch breaks at 11:30, which was right about when I was getting hungry.)

When the polls opened at 7 a.m., we had a long line of voters waiting. (It was about a 30-minute wait, nothing too crazy.) So the first hour went by quickly! Checking in a voter was easy: I scanned the ID, verified that the address was correct, and had the voter sign their name on the signature pad. Checking the signatures could be a little nerve-wracking since it had to match the ID. I hated asking a voter to re-sign! (I was worried they would be confrontational about it, but nobody thought it was a big deal.) I would clear the signature and ask them to sign their name the way it looks on their ID. (I could even show them the ID if they needed to remember how they had originally signed their license.)

There were several Covid policies in place at my polling location. We had social distancing lines to keep everyone six feet apart and had to ensure the polling location wasn’t over capacity. We used disposable Q-tips for signing the signature pad. (Who knew you could use a Q-tip to sign?! Haha. So many voters thought this was ingenious.) And the privacy booths where people would take their ballot to vote were spaced apart for social distancing, too. We also sanitized all of the pens after they were used.

One Covid safety requirement that we couldn’t enforce was wearing masks. All of the poll workers were wearing masks, of course, but we could not legally require mask-wearing since voting is a Constitutional right. (Going to Target, on the other hand, isn’t, which is why they can enforce masks.) Thankfully, our county has a mask mandate so everyone around here is used to wearing masks when indoors so it wasn’t an issue. (I only saw one person come in without a mask.)

After having a rush of voters when the polls opened at 7 a.m., things slowed down right around 8:30 and then we never had more than a few people in line at a time. We didn’t have a ton of downtime (maybe 5-10 minutes at a time) as we had a steady stream of voters coming in. It was enough to make the day fly by without it being super crazy and stressful.

While the check-in process was easy-peasy for most of the voters, it wasn’t uncommon for a voter to be at the wrong precinct. (Always double-check your polling location! It will save you a lot of hassle.) When this happened, I would send the voter off to the clerk (the head honcho who oversees a polling location) who would fill out a form so they could skip the line at their actual polling place and get their ballot immediately. We also ran across voters not being in our system, having an address that didn’t match their ID, and one voter who showed up without any photo ID at all. It was very nice to just send these voters off to the clerk, haha. Not an issue I have to deal with!

Around 3 p.m., right when we were all getting tired from being up early, H. put in a Starbucks order for all of us. We’re not allowed to leave the polling location so thank god for UberEats! That grande caramel macchiato was the punch of caffeine I needed to make it through the next few hours.

I was really worried we were going to get a major after-work rush, but it never got busy in the evening! When the polls closed at 7 p.m., we had two people who were getting things straightened out with our clerk so they could vote (and both were able to vote – yay!), but there was no crazy line of voters. That meant we could start our closing procedures!

As an Inspector, my closing tasks weren’t too difficult. Working with H., we placed all of the materials at our table (signs, checklists, forms, etc.) in a special envelope and then helped to break down all of the privacy booths. We also had to pack up the machines we used to check in voters, carefully placing them in a specialty carrying case, as well as break down the AutoMark machine (which is an ADA-compliant voting machine for people with disabilities). Once we were done with that, our duties were officially complete but we stuck around to help our fellow poll workers with the tasks they needed. I left the polling location at 8:30 p.m.

This post has gotten long, but I wanted to give a really detailed overview of what my day looked like in the hopes that it sheds some light on the voting process from the perspective of a poll worker! And encourage anyone who wants to be a poll worker to do so—it’s a long day for sure, but an incredibly rewarding one.

Would I do it again? While I definitely had first-day jitters in the days leading up to Tuesday, once I got to the polling location and met the people I would be working with, I was completely stoked. I had the best day and it was an experience I will never forget. I loved everyone I worked with and I’m so glad I had the guts to sign up to do this! (It’s hard for me to do new things, especially new social things, with my social anxiety.) I would work another election in a heartbeat, and I hope I get the chance to! It was an incredible day, and so special to be a part of this side of democracy.

Categories: Life

Monthly Recap | September 2020

Happy October! It’s starting to actually feel a bit like fall around here—and by “a bit like fall,” I mean it was 83 degrees at noon yesterday and that felt DOWNRIGHT PLEASANT. We take what we can get here. 🙂 Today, I’m recapping September in terms of books, podcasts, TV shows, and more. Enjoy!

READING

I read 12 books in September, bringing my yearly total to 116 books. This will definitely be my highest reading year yet! (This time last year, I was at 101 books and the year before that, 103.) My top three reads from September were:

WATCHING

  • Cheer (Netflix) – I finally watched this Netflix documentary and I enjoyed it so much! I did competitive cheerleading when I was younger and this brought back so many great memories. I fell in love with all of the cheerleaders (ugh, let’s not get started about Jerry, though. I am so disappointed!) and their stories. And man, I was so impressed by the athleticism of these cheerleaders, especially the girls who are just being tossed up in their air like rag dolls again and again and again. I would definitely recommend this documentary!
  • Getting Organized with The Home Edit (Netflix) – I’m not a huge fan of The Home Edit, but I started watching their Netflix show for something easy and fun to watch during my move. And it was exactly what I needed! While Clea could most definitely get on my nerves (Joanna is a saint for putting up with her), I loved watching all of these dysfunctional spaces become beautifully organized. Are there issues with the show? You bet! But when I needed something calming and easy to watch, this truly fit the bill.
  • Big Brother (CBS) – I’m still trucking along with Big Brother, even though this season has been a massive disappointment. I don’t even have a favorite (maybe Tyler?), which is unheard of for me at this point in the season. Blah.

LISTENING TO

  • All American: Tiger Woods – This podcast is all about the rise and fall and comeback of Tiger Woods. He’s such a compelling athlete, from being a black athlete in a majorly white sport to his sex scandal and fall from grace. I’m really enjoying it! I believe this podcast is going to be looking at all kinds of athletes, going deep on their beginnings and scandals and all that jazz, and I’m looking forward to who they’ll profile after Tiger.
  • Childhood with Chanel and Tiffany – When I heard that Chanel Miller (author of Know My Name) started a podcast with her sister, I knew I wanted to listen to it. Chanel is known for speaking out about really hard topics, and this podcast is the opposite of that. Instead, it’s just Chanel and Tiffany giggling together and discussing their childhood memories. It is goodness and light and hope, and I highly recommend it!
  • Kids on the Case on Criminal – Oh, my heavens! I have never enjoyed a podcast episode so much! Phoebe talks to a handful of kids (ages 10 to 16, I think?) about some of the cases they’ve solved, such as finding an Alzheimer’s patient who got lost. It is so lovely and made me tear up about the sweetness and kindness of children.

BUYING

  • Laptop stand + wireless keyboard ($56) – Chalk this up to a spur-of-the-moment decision, but it’s one that has made my work life so much better. It makes it easier to type and look at my screen with everything tilted in a much more ergonomically pleasing manner. My posture is so much better, too, surprisingly! (Or maybe not so surprisingly?!)
  • IKEA dresser ($150) – One of my new purchases for my apartment was a new dresser. My old one was falling apart with many of the drawers difficult to open, so I took a trip to IKEA one afternoon to check out their dressers and loved this style. It was a beast to put together, but it’s a nice little addition to my bedroom!
  • Desk ($285) – I couldn’t help myself, you guys. I am so tired of working from my tiny desk and bought the desk I linked to last week. My mom and stepdad are coming over tomorrow to help me put it together since it’s huge and not a one-person job. I’m looking forward to being able to work from a much nicer desk soon! (And let’s face it: the cats need more space to sleep on my desk. They barely have room for it right now! Hehe.)

Highlights

> Moving. This was indeed the highlight of my month and I am so happy to be in my new place. It is so much bigger and I feel so much less cramped. The move itself went fine, although moving to a third-floor apartment with no elevator in 100-degree heat was no fun at all. I’m slowly settling in and creating a little home for me and my cats, and I’m just so grateful I was able to make this happen.

> The return of reading dates. My friend, A., and I used to have regular reading dates where we would find a coffee shop or outside locale and just read. Of course, we would spend a good amount of time catching up but then set a time for 45 minutes and sit quietly, reading. Well, our last reading date was in JANUARY! The pandemic really threw a wrench in our plans. This month brought the return of reading dates. We met up at a park downtown and had a nice view of the water. We spent more time talking than reading, haha, but we had a lot to catch up on! We’re hoping to make these reading dates more of a regular thing—especially with the weather cooling down!

> NFL football. I am so glad football is back! I needed this in my life, mostly because it meant spending all of Sunday with my mom, brother, and older nephew. The NFL has implemented somewhat strict COVID protocols, but I am so annoyed by the mask-wearing by the coaches! It doesn’t work if you don’t wear your mask correctly, dudes! Ugh. Other than that, I’m enjoying the season, even if it is weird to see empty stadiums. (They have piped in fake crowd noise so it doesn’t feel totally silent aside from game noise, but it’s definitely weird.)

> My election assignment. I was so excited to get my polling assignment for the upcoming general election. It’s going to be an interesting election (seriously wondering if we’ll have Trump supporters trying to “watch” our precinct as he has been instructing them to do, ugh). I’m glad to be able to do my part and help ensure a fair and free election. And let this be your reminder that as long as you are at the right precinct, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE. Always! You can vote by provisional ballot even if your voter registration has been challenged. Please do not leave without voting, even if you’re being hassled.

> All of the birthdays. It was a month of birthdays in September! My brother turned 34 and my nephew turned 12, and we celebrated with cookie cake, presents, and football. My stepdad also had a birthday at the end of the month. And I got to surprise my friend B for her birthday with a bunch of my other friends, which was a delight! It was a good month of celebrating my people, is what I’m saying.

> Pup-sitting Chip. My mom and stepdad went on a little vacation for his birthday, which meant I was on Chip duty! It was so nice to have one-on-one time with him and to be able to enjoy their backyard. I didn’t go in the pool but loved being able to dip my legs in the water while watching Chip run around the backyard (and reading my book outside! So nice!)

Categories: Life

Settling In

Hi, friends! I am writing this post from my little office nook in my new apartment and my heart is so full. I missed this space last week, but it was definitely necessary to get away because my week off was busy! There was so much to do between getting everything moved over to the new place and cleaning the old place—throw in the start of the NFL season, a birthday surprise, and a massage and whew. I’d like another week of vacation, please!

The move itself went well. I started moving things over on Thursday, Sept. 10th, did the bulk of the moving on Saturday, and finished up by Thursday. Having a full week to move everything over was so helpful, especially moving to a third-floor apartment (with no elevator). I had to take a break to catch my breath and bring my heart rate down after bringing up every box! My new workout goal is to be able to walk up the stairs without losing my breath. Whew.

I moved most of the boxes and odds-and-ends myself, but my brother and mother came over on Saturday to help. My brother moved all of my furniture, which amounted to a sofa, bookshelf, bed, desk, and cat tree. My mom helped move a ton of boxes and bags of books, and also helped me with getting the girls in their carrier to take them to the new place!

Speaking of the girls, they have been acclimating to the new place wonderfully! I brought them over on Saturday afternoon, and they both hid under the sofa for a few hours before Ellie started venturing out in small bits. First, she only came out to rub against my leg and meow loudly at me but as the day went on, she started exploring her new digs and even slept on the bed with me on Saturday night (our first night in the new place). Lila came out at night and I could hear her exploring but she would scurry back under the couch if I gave her any attention. But she’s gotten braver as each day passes and seems to be enjoying the new place! I was definitely worried about the transition, but they handled it beautifully.

As for how I’m handling the transition, I am doing well. 🙂 I started having anxiety on Thursday evening when I was unpacking a box in my new apartment—I just felt out of sorts. The new place didn’t feel like home but neither did my old apartment. I also experienced a lot of anxiety on Friday and Saturday but it went away by Sunday. I think it helped to have the girls at the apartment and Ellie needing extra love. And now this new place is starting to feel like home! I’m so very happy to be here and I can’t wait to continue to make it homey and inviting.

What I love about this apartment is how spacious it is. I like that I can have my own little office nook that doesn’t interfere too much with the look of the living room. I love the updated kitchen, all the closet space, and that the girls still have their window ledges to explore the world from.

I was disappointed to find out that my room doesn’t have a ceiling fan, so I bought a cheap one from Wal-Mart and the maintenance department will hopefully install it this week. I also feel like something’s up with the AC because it’s not nearly as cold as I’d like it to be. I have to keep the AC set at 70 degrees at night just to keep things comfortable! That seems… extreme, you know? So, we’ll see if anything is up. A ceiling fan should help, but damn am I nervous about what my electric bill is going to look like this month. Eeks!

It was so nice to take the week off work last week, too. I haven’t taken any serious time off (other than a day of PTO here and there, but I’d usually log into work to check email on those days) since December. It was much needed. My brain needed the break. I used my time wisely, going over to the old apartment for a few hours every morning to clean and bring back little odds and ends that hadn’t been moved over (like my two big boxes of Christmas decorations, suitcases, my Crock-Pot, etc). I finished up on Thursday, which was my goal so I could spend Friday truly relaxing.

There’s still a lot to do to make my new apartment feel like home. I have lots of things to hang and eventually, I want to buy a bigger desk, invest in a cozy sectional, and get a bigger area rug. The truth is, I don’t know how long I’m going to be in this apartment. It may just be a landing place for a year or two, or it might be where I stay until I’ve saved up enough for a down payment on a house. But I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I made the decision to move. And I can’t wait to take you all on a much more detailed apartment tour when everything is ready!